καθαίρω (kathaírō) has one direct occurrence in the governed current-edition witness. In John 15:2, Jesus says that the Father, the vinedresser, prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it may bear more fruit.
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Full entry for καθαίρω (G2508) · Open the biblical lexicon
καθαίρω (kathaírō) has one direct occurrence in the governed current-edition witness. In John 15:2, Jesus says that the Father, the vinedresser, prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it may bear more fruit.
The BSB source-word alignment has 1 aligned row for this entry. Common renderings include He prunes (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 15:2. Its strongest book concentrations include John (1).
G2508 has one direct occurrence in the governed current-edition witness. In John 15:2, Jesus says that the Father, the vinedresser, prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it may bear more fruit. The verb describes purposeful care within the vine-and-branches image. The passage does not make pain itself holy, identify every hardship as pruning, or give a teacher permission to explain another person's suffering with certainty. Its direct claim is narrower: the Father actively tends fruitful branches in relation to Christ.
The following verses keep this pruning from becoming a program of independent moral improvement. Jesus tells His disciples that they are clean because of His word and commands them to abide in Him, because a branch cannot bear fruit by itself. G2508 is distinct from the nearby adjective G2513 and from the more frequent cleansing verb G2511. A traditional-manuscript reading in Hebrews 10:2 also uses a G2508 form where current editions read a G2511 form, but that variant is textual evidence rather than a second undisputed occurrence.
The direct G2508 corpus is John 15:2. The Father prunes a fruitful branch within Jesus' teaching about abiding and fruitfulness; a Hebrews 10:2 traditional-manuscript form remains separately labeled variant evidence.
He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.
The sole direct use belongs to the Father's cultivation of a fruit-bearing branch.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. To cleanse by removing excess growth; pruning that promotes fruitfulness through strategic removal.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I cleanse, purify, prune
Read verseI cleanse, purify, prune
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 1 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Where this word appears in Scripture: passage, original form, and sense in context.
καθαίρω is built from this root:
Divine discipline producing fruitfulness.
G2508 gives teachers a focused image of the Father's purposeful care, but only when the word remains inside John 15. The branch is not autonomous, the fruit does not arise from pain itself, and pruning is not a diagnosis that believers may confidently impose on every sorrow. Jesus places the action between the Father's work as vinedresser and the disciples' continuing dependence on the true vine.
That order matters pastorally. It allows a suffering believer to trust the Father's wise care without pretending that another person can decode every providence. It also resists a performance reading, because the branch bears fruit only by abiding in Christ. The rare occurrence and the Hebrews textual variant call for precision rather than for a large theory built from the verb alone.
Jhn.15.2
The direct John form is a present active indicative. It describes the vinedresser's action as part of the vine image. The G2508 form reported in the Hebrews 10:2 traditional reading is a perfect passive participle and must not be silently merged into the direct current-edition count.
Scripture often uses vine and vineyard imagery for God's people, but John 15 identifies Jesus as the true vine and directly governs this occurrence. Wider vineyard texts may supply canonical background only when their distinct judgments and covenant settings are preserved.